BOULDER/GILPIN COUNTIES - Totem poles are most often associated with indigenous populations in Alaska and British Columbia. These wooden columns feature carved images that tell stories and embody cultural traditions. But one local resident has adopted this traditional art form to celebrate his family’s history as well as elements of those states his family has called home.

Charlie Collier is the great-grandson of Hal Sayre, the founder of Los Lagos Ranch, which straddles the Boulder/Gilpin County Line opposite the Kelly Dahl Campground on Highway 119. 

For 130 years, six generations of Sayre’s descendants have lived on and enjoyed the 600-acre ranch which includes six lakes and 10 family homesites.

Sayre came to Colorado in 1859 for the gold rush. He acquired more than 600 mining claims and was half-owner of two gold mines in Aspen, which provided his wealth. He was the first state surveyor in Colorado, and assembled the parcels of land which became Los Lagos while surveying the Boulder/Gilpin County line. 

Collier’s father, Rox Collier, started carving totem poles as a hobby in the mid-1960s and continued until the mid-1980s when an accident prevented him from continuing this work. The younger Collier inherited his father’s collection of cedar logs and took up carving totem poles in 2007, teaching himself the craft. 

To date, Collier has carved 13 poles commemorating his family and the states he and his wife Donna call home: Colorado and Washington.

Specifically, Collier’s totem poles show: 

• His family, with his wife and their two children

• "Los Lagos Generations," showing six generations of his family on Los Lagos Ranch

• "Anna and Carlos wedding," representing their daughter and her husband 

• "Grand Children," celebrating their four grandchildren, represented by wolf, tiger, panda, and ladybug

• "Boice Pole," given  to good friends, with specific animals representing their interests

• "Animals of Los Lagos," showcasing those animals present on Los Lagos

• "Symbols of Washington," displaying official symbols of their winter home in Washington

• "Animals of Alaska," illustrating the animals the Colliers encountered while teaching in an Alaskan Inuit village as young newlyweds.

• "South Florida," representing animals from South Florida where their daughter and her family live.

• "Jennifer's New House," a housewarming gift for their daughter

• "Symbols of Colorado," with the state’s official symbols

• "Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary," representing all six states where the couple has resided during their more than 50 years of married life

• "Chinese Zodiac," displaying the Chinese zodiac symbols for each member of their family

 Collier said it takes approximately one year to complete each one of his totem poles, using both hand tools and power tools in the process. Occasionally, he has produced two in a year. “I don't work on them every day; just when the mood strikes me,” he said.

  His early totem poles were made from cedar logs left to him by his father, plentiful near their winter home in the Pacific Northwest. More recently he has used lodgepole pines from the Los Lagos property.

In addition to the carved wood, Collier uses other materials as accents in his sculptures. The Colorado Symbols pole, for example, includes rose quartz, blue spruce cones, Yule marble, and state quarters. 

Several of the totem poles include inserted abalone for eyes, noses, and orca blow holes. The "South Florida" pole has coral from Miami Beach, glass beads, buttons, and Christmas tree lights to create the spine on an iguana.

 Visitors to Los Lagos will soon be able to view Collier’s latest totem pole. “I am currently working on a ‘Welcome to Sueño’ pole,” Collier said. “Sueño is the name of our house at Los Lagos. It will be at the entrance to our driveway.” This totem focuses on characters featured in the book Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose, by Dr. Seuss. 

Several of his totem poles are on display inside and outdoors at Sueño, nestled on the shore of one the Los Lagos lakes.  

  Collier said he doesn’t have a particular favorite totem pole. “They all have special meaning to my family and me,” he said. Anyone lucky enough to visit the Collier home at Los Lagos will enjoy a personal tour of the art works offered by Collier himself.

  The family tradition of totem pole carving will not be lost, as Collier’s nephew, Connor Collier, has taken up the hobby–perhaps to create new totems to be added to the family’s collection.